There was a time in my life when I thought I had to BE something specific in order to win the attention, accolades and trust of my clients and potential clients.

I thought I had to have letters after my name… that I had to be “professional”… that I had to have a certain amount of money in my bank account… or have “visible” clients to give me credibility.

Most unfortunately, this tendency spread to other areas of my life, as well.

I thought I had to be a certain kind of Man in order to attract the kind of Woman I wanted to spend time with.

I thought I had to Posture, in order to win the respect of other Men I admired.

In the past 12 months I’ve taken a very close look at Who I Am and What I Stand For, and I’ve decided to choose I different path.

Instead of trying to be something specific for others…

I decided to be Myself, for Me.

As soon as I made this commitment, and chose to show up authentically, and vulnerably, in front of clients (and potential partners, friends & business contacts) my entire reality has shifted.

In my business, I am attracting WAY more of the kind of people I want to work with than ever before… and my clients are referring me like crazy.

I am choosing to stand ON my beliefs and principles, shouting them from the rooftop where necessary, but living them as consistently as possible (most important) as often as possible.

In doing so, I’ve been challenged to respect the boundaries I have set for myself. To do this, I’ve had to start saying “No” to some people who want to work with me, for all variety of reasons.

And I’ve even had to fire a client and refund their money, because doing otherwise would have been in direct violation of one of my Core Values, which is that Running My Business Should be FUN!

So how does this apply to you?

I’d like to invite you, today, to have an honest look at how you’re showing up in your business.

Are you being Real with your clients and potential clients? Or are you trying to be what you THINK they want you to be?

Are you hiding your own challenges and issues, thinking you need to project some polished, perfect image of yourself? Or are you letting your fears, uncertainty and vulnerability as a Human Being shine through?

Are you standing up to and for your clients, saying the hard things at the hard time in order to help them break through whatever is holding them back? Or are you staying silent, out of fear of offending them?

One of my early mentors told me…

Your Business Can Only Grow to The Extent You Do.

I didn’t understand what he meant, until recently.

But having uncovered this previous need to be “recognized” and “validated” by others, I realized that I was holding myself back in business… in relationships… in life.

I no longer have that need.

Do I want you to like me? Of course I do.

Do I NEED you to like me? Not at all.

If me being me doesn’t suit you, that is a good indication that we probably wouldn’t be successful together, whether in business, in friendship or in partnership.

And that’s OKAY!

There are more that enough people on this Little Planet of ours to go around. Enough matches to every person’s needs, desires and preferences.

So let it out. Be all that you can be.

Bring ALL of yourself to your clients, to your relationships, to your interactions with strangers.

As they say… Let your Freak Flag Fly!

Doing so has changed my life… and I know it will change yours, too.

Until next time… Go Make a Difference!

AGREE, DISAGREE? Have Something to Add?Let me know what you think in the comments below!

4 replies to "Are You Hiding From Your Clients?"

Paul I had the experience this morning of realizing all I had to be was me-the brave me and keep showing up as Life Coach Carla who wante to be your soul;s best friend! Was on a local TV show this morning and just loved it and met another guest who was starting her non-profit for breast survivors and at the end of the show she said-You and I will be working together in 2015 Carla. You will do visualization and create vision boards with people during my workshops. Life is good. thanks for listening Carla

There is a fine line we have to be aware of here. On one hand, we certainly need to be true to our core values, but even those need to be carefully examined. As you mentioned, Paul, it is important to LIVE your values. Of course, the REAL values a person is living are evident by their actions – as Emerson says, what we DO speaks louder than what we SAY. A careful examination of our DEEDS might reveal, for example, that one of our “core values” is actually impatience or visceral intolerance towards our clients’ imperfections. At that point, we would do well to consider whether we should become more accepting toward the clients or perhaps transmute our initial intolerance in a way that helps move our clients forward toward their goals. So, we need to establish whether those core values are authentic or distorted.